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Peace. Tranquility. Insanity.

Friday Night Clam Bake – #18: Paradise by the Transistor Radio Light

So, it has come to my attention (mainly because I was bored and trying to delete older, no-longer-needed files so my laptop would quit advising me that my storage capacity was at Defcon-4) that it has been nearly a year since I did one of these Clam Bakes.

This is clearly wretched malfeasance on my part. My apologies to all who have ever vainly hoped that I would maintain any type of consistency. (Let me alleviate you of that pain: I don’t.)

Still, I do occasionally experience wisps of nostalgia and/or yearnings to follow through with at least something in my life, so, at this particular moment, I feel compelled to resurrect the Clam Bakes. (Admittedly an odd compulsion.)

Now, before any type of celebratory processions commence, led by the three people who not only recall the Clam Bakes but have digested every one of them will near-fetishistic glee, I should point out a few things. One, at least for this post, I am dispensing with the wildly erratic short stories that were the hallmark of the later Bakes. Two, I am returning to the foundation of the initial Bakes, which were simply about music and the love we have for songs from our mutually jaded pasts.

Your mission, should you accept (and no one will look askance at you if you don’t, because we’re all about acceptance and harmony here at Bonnywood), is to peruse the following lyric snippets and see how many of them jog a memory of a different time and place.

Caveats: One, some of these are obvious, but most of them are not necessarily the most famous lines in the song. But if you know the song, they should ring a bell. Two, most of these songs are from the 60s and 70s, with a sprinkle from other decades. Three, with one exception, all of these songs were radio hits at one time, and several of them were subsequent hits by other bands. Four, if you happen to get all 40, we should have a commitment ceremony of some kind. Five, enjoy.

Here we go…

1. “No dark sarcasm in the classroom…”

2. “Misty taste of moonshine…”

3. “Where DO they all come from…”

4. “In numbers too big to ignore…”

5. “The calliope crashed to the ground…”

6. “And you give yourself away…”

7. “Won’t you stay… just a little bit longer…”

8. “At first I was afraid, I was petrified..”

9. “Man, what are you doin’ here…”

10. “Sing for the laughter, sing for the tear…”

11. “Tonight the light of love is in your eyes…”

12. “Time goes by, so slowly…”

13. “I travel the world and the seven seas…”

14. “You know you got it, child, if it makes you feel good…”

15. “Let me get over you, the way you’ve gotten over me…”

16. “So hurry up and bring your jukebox money…”

17. “I thought that I heard you laughing…”

18. “Bein’ good isn’t always easy, no matter how hard I try…”

19. “Just yesterday morning, they let me know you were gone…”

20. “Scaramouch, Scaramouch, will you do the fandango…”

21. “Hello darkness, my old friend…”

22. “Everything that I got, is just what I got on…”

23. “You can keep the dime…”

24. “We all play the game, and when we dare… we cheat ourselves, at solitaire…”

25. “When the feeling’s gone and you can’t go on…”

26. “I know it may sound selfish, but let me breathe the air…”

27. “Oh, you know we’ve got to find a way, to bring some understanding here today…”

28. “And I need you more than want you, and I want you all the time…”

29. “Blowing through the jasmine in my mind…”

30. “Well it goes like this: the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift…”

31. “Please allow me to introduce myself…”

32. “Lay me down in sheets of linen…”

33. “I guess I should have known, by the way you parked your car sideways…”

34. “And I bought you that ring ‘cause I never was cool…”

35. “Left a good job in the city…”

36. “And your arms felt nice wrapped around my shoulders…”

37. “It’s late September and I really should be back at school…”

38. “You can call it, another lonely day…”

39. “We’re caught in a trap…”

40. “We’d sing and dance, forever and a day…”

Note: Do NOT scroll past the giant duck if you are not yet ready to see the corresponding song titles.

1. “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”

2. “Country Roads”

3. “Eleanor Rigby”

4. “I am Woman”

5. “Blinded by the Light”

6. “With or Without You”

7. “The Load-Out / Stay”

8. “I Will Survive”

9. “Piano Man”

10. “Dream On”

11. “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”

12. “Unchained Melody”

13. “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)”

14. “Piece of My Heart”

15. “You Keep Me Hangin’ On”

16. “Love Shack”

17. “Losing My Religion”

18. “Son of a Preacher Man”

19. “Fire and Rain”

20. “Bohemian Rhapsody”

21. “The Sounds of Silence”

22. “Amarillo by Morning”

23. “Operator”

24. “At Seventeen”

25. “Tragedy”

26. “Cool Change”

27. “What’s Going On?”

28. “Wichita Lineman”

29. “Summer Breeze”

30. “Hallelujah”

31. “Sympathy for the Devil”

32. “Tiny Dancer”

33. “Little Red Corvette”

34. “Least Complicated”

35. “Proud Mary”

36. “Fast Car”

37. “Maggie May”

38. “Go Your Own Way”

39. “Suspicious Minds”

40. “Those Were the Days”

Please feel free to share any memories you might associate with any of these songs. I’m very curious to see which of these resonate and in what way…

P.S. The opening shot is yet another snap from Malaga. It has nothing to do with music, but it does hint at traveling back in time…

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That was the mental equivalent of someone flipping though 40 radio stations one after another although more entertaining. Thoughts ranged from ‘Pink Floyd were beyond brilliant’ to ‘I’ve got to go past the big duck otherwise this will be bugging me all day’.
Wichita Lineman resonated with me as did Unchained Melody as they both remind me of my husband – happy/sad memories.

Oh, I like that image, flipping through radio stations. It sounds much more exciting than the boring reality of me sitting here and trying to think of songs I like and which phrases would work without making it too easy, as the cat interrupts my concentration whilst whacking up a hairball in the background. And yes, the “Lineman” line makes me ache and smile at the same time…

Pink Floyd reminds me of a lot of stuff I can’t discuss here. 😉 And the Rolling Stones with their “Sympathy for the Devil was something I used to listen to before flying as pilot in command (the airport I was flying from is no longer there) … It’s amazing how music can really access some pretty strong memories

Yup. I haven’t written a post about it (so don’t worry, you don’t have a memory gap going on) but I have referred to it here and there. I used to live in Phoenix and trained at Pan Am. That’s why I’m familiar with your weather patterns in Texas, Arizona and S California.

Most of them dinged my brain – maybe 2 I didn’t know. Can’t say they brought back any memories other than the tune – I think I’ve lost a lot of things along those lines over the years. Still, interesting collection there Brian. If I had any gumption I’d do my own song lyric list, but I’m just too lazy. 🙂

I think it would be a HOOT if you would do one of these, so let’s work on that gumption angle. Maybe just do ten of them? Oh, maybe you can take photos and attach lyrics that we have to figure out. And the photos can be hints for the name of the band! Wait, this is starting to sound like work and I might lose you. Hmm. Still, not giving up just yet… 😉

Yep, maybe you should do those wonderful suggestions – it would be fun to read them, but my gumption meter is running extremely low at the moment, so just typing a reply is a bit of hard work (see how much I love you, I make the effort). I shall monitor the gumption flow, and if there is an increase I shall cogitate of the necessary energy expenditure to complete a HOOT.

That was fun! Some of them – out of context – got me! I went through the list and some just sang themselves and then there were ones that I was like, Duh! When I saw the title – like Piano Man. I went back to the lyric and THEN heard it Maaaaan what are you doing heeeeere. Fun! 🙂

I’m glad you enjoyed it! And yes, when you take the lines out of context, some of them just lay there and don’t click at all. Then you figure out the song title and bam, it all comes back. By the way, I haven’t commented yet on your site, but I want to thank you for the work you are doing over there. There are some folks who can benefit greatly from your efforts…

I recognized a few of the lyrics and when I saw the titles, I was embarrassed, because I recognized a lot of them. Ah well, what can one expect from a person who is memory-challenged when it comes to titles and lyrics, and things like that.

Yes, there are certain cruelties imposed upon us as our vintage increases. There was a time when I could briefly glance at something and the information would be locked in my mind for decades. Now? If I don’t scribble the factoid on a Post-It note and slap it on my forehead, I’ll forget the intel before I walk out of the room…

Oooh it’s a music challenge test! Just reading those titles I could hear the song. I listed the ones I knew and got 22. Did I get a passing grade?
Three brought back the strongest memories… #2 – driving down the highway, moving from east TX back to west TX … # 37 – traveling to OKC to visit relatives (we went a lot from Lawton to OKC) … and #17 – I wrote down all the lyrics of this song by hand while listening to it (we had no google back then)
Lots of fun – 🙂

You did very well, considering I purposely chose lyrical bits that are not necessarily easy to remember unless you know the song by heart.

Some bits of trivia about the three songs you mention:

#2: We had to sing “Country Roads” in my seventh-grade music class. I can still remember our teacher, Mr. Alsop, using one of those overhead projectors that showed the lyrics while he pointed out each word as we sang along.

#37: I had an English teacher in high school who confessed one day, out of the blue, that she would play “Maggie May” on her stereo whenever she had to do housework, because she hated doing it and needed inspiration. I didn’t really get the connection, but more power to her.

#17: “Losing My Religion” is from one of my favorite albums, ever. Then again, I’m a huge R.E.M. fan.

Just bliss but it did take quite a long time because every single song had to be played once it had been identified. And then those that I hadn’t identified had to be played. Great line choices from all of them. I never did understand what jasmine was doing in his mind, though 😉. Now off to mime once more to Freddie and the boys and beat myself at solitaire.

I completely understand the distraction debacle of this challenge. It took me all day to put this mess together, as I was constantly hop-scotching from one song to another as memories flooded my overcrowded brain. Narrowing things down took a bit of restraint that I rarely exhibit anymore. Now, two bits of trivia about Seals & Crofts: One, apparently the duo drank jasmine tea whilst working on this song. (I’m assuming it wasn’t the only thing they drank.) Two, Jim Seals is the brother of England Dan, as in “England Dan and John Ford Coley”, another musical duo that released, among other songs, “I’d Really Love to See You Tonight”, another fave of mine that I would have included if I hadn’t limited myself to 40 songs. Which leads me to believe that I must do another one of these, soon. Perhaps a spot of jasmine tea would provide the requisite inspiration…

I love that England Dan and John Ford Coley song – just love it. Yes, you must do another of these soon and include it but don’t feel that you have to use Jasmine Tea as your muse … I am sure there are many other teas which will produce fine results. In fact, I can vouch for a few …. 😉

Wow, what a great idea and blistering challenge. I know 60s music, but the 70s had me stumped. I spent a lot of that time in the Middle East where songs like ‘Don’t Cry for Me Argentina’, ‘Ma Barker’ and ‘Feelings’ were all that was played.